Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello, I'm Michael Blaze. Welcome to Your Home three sixty,
the show where we talk about everything that has to
do with your home.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm a licensed South Carolina realtor. I have been for
about twenty years, so we talk a lot about real estate.
We talk about what it takes to buy and sell
your home. We talk about what it takes to care
for your home. We talk about maintenance issues. We talk
about everything from landscaping to even entertainment in your home.
(00:27):
That's what Your Home three sixty is all about. That's
why we call it Your Home three sixty. Get it
all the way around your home, everything that has to
do with it. For the last couple of months, I
keep saying that I'm going to do an episode on
Home Inspections. Well that time has come. Today We're going
to dedicate the whole show to Home Inspections or why
you should get one, because first of all, it's a
(00:48):
negotiating tool for you. Second of all, you want to
know what you're buying right now. I'm not really going
to get into how to structure this in your contract
because I've done that on other episodes, but you're going
to want an adequate due diligence period to do whatever
you need to do to figure out that this property
(01:09):
is worth it for you, that it'll work for you,
that it is what you think that it is. So
we're going to assume that you're in your due diligence
period and you're going to take my advice and you're
going to get a home inspection. A lot of people
you wouldn't believe are like, I can do it myself.
Don't do it yourself, get a professional to do it.
There's several different reasons that is named. If you ow them,
(01:31):
it's a good negotiating tool. They're used to looking at
homes all day long, every day, are you. If not,
you might miss some things that a home inspector will catch.
Plus you'll get a nice report with pictures and descriptions
that you can use in your negotiation, and it will
give you piece of mind, peace of mind, or piece
(01:53):
of you know what. I think peace of mind would
be the better choice. Now on the line with me,
Stephen Humard, Solid Ground Home Inspections. Steve's a certified home
inspector and the owner along with his wife, Erica, of
Solid Ground Home Inspections. Thanks for joining us today. Steve.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, absolutely so. Now you're in the due diligence process.
You're to contract. The clock is ticking and your phone rings, Steve,
we need your help. We need a home inspection. You
come on out to the house. Explain to our listeners
what it is that you inspect in this process.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, when we get to the house, we're going to
start with the exterior first. We're going to take a
look on the exterior. We're looking at citing landscaping, which
is a lot more important than people think, especially here
in the Low Country. We're going to look at the
general overall property itself, look for anything that could pose
(02:50):
a problem in the future.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, let me stop you right there. And why is
it that landscaping is more important than people think.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Landscaping is used in our area mainly to pull moisture
away from the home. Being a recovering norther or myself,
I know that a lot of us are afraid of
trees too close to the house. Here in the Low Country,
we don't have these big tap roots on our trees.
They don't go underneath the house and move the foundation
(03:18):
as much as they did when I was growing up
up North, we would never have a home with a
tree very close. Here in the low country, we just
do not see the tree roots underneath the house like
we do in other places. So we're going to look for.
Is the landscaping proper where it's not rubbing up against
the house. Is it pulling moisture away from the property,
(03:42):
things like that. Do we have the gutters and the
down spouts far enough away from the foundation so that
the moisture doesn't go underneath the house. Also, trees rubbing
the house. Palm trees are a big thing. We plant
those way too close to our property and the fronds
will rub the house and you'll see it. You'll see
it on a hardy plank siding or on shingles that
(04:04):
the poems will just rub the granulars right off the shingles.
So that's one of the things that we're looking for.
There's a lot of plants here in the South that
are dangerous to dogs and children. The sago palm is
one of them. You have little puppies, they chew on
that plant and they can become poison. So we only
(04:26):
ender plants things like that. We want to point out.
You know, if you have children, these are not the
best plants they have in the backyard.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And you know, and I'll point out too, if there's
no gutters on the home, you want to see some
vegetation close to the home, not too close, but close
to the home to kind of buffer that water. Is
it hits the ground, so it's not eroding the ground
around the property. Right.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yes, In the old building codes, before we started using
the international codes, it was it was written into the
code that we would plant the azaleahs two feet from
the drip edge of the house and the azaleas would
diffuse all the moisture. So when you're looking at some
of these older homes from the sixties and fifties, you'll
(05:07):
notice that there's bushes all the way around that was
planted on purpose to keep the water from going into
the crawl space.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, now, what else is it that you expect on
the exterior of the home. Do you look at the
sidewalks and the driveway and all of that.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yes, we do. And one of the funny things is
we don't see a lot of driveways being pulled up
because of frost or tree roots. We see a lot
of driveways that are actually sunken because of soil erosion underneath.
There's so much stand in our environment here in Charleston
that it could get washed out and you'll see hollow
(05:45):
areas where you'll have a nice trip hazard on a
sidewalk or on a driveway itself. Swimming pools are really
known for this. When you have a cement deck in
the backyard around your in ground pool, a hollow spot.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I've got one of those in my driveway and not
only does it, you know, create a tripping hazard, it
eventually will bust up the driveway into little pieces and
it's uncomfortable to drive on and it's a tripping hazard
and it's an eyesore.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, and it's very common. Most people have them.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Now, what else on the exterior? I imagine the siding
and the roof.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Windows are a big thing. Window flashing A lot of
times we will not have the best window flashing a
lot of our homes because of our climate. We don't
replace the windows like we would in a northern environment.
A lot of homes will still have wooden framed windows.
If you buy a home downtown, they have to. They
(06:44):
have to have the old fashioned windows to stay with
the historic environment. Those windows get a lot of condensation
if you have the air conditioner on the house, and
with our hot and humid environment, you build up the
condensation on the exterior of the home.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
They brought pretty easily. There needs to be a lot.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Of maintenance with the wind windows, but we're going to
look for that. Termites. Urmites are a big thing and
every home. The rule of thumb is if you don't
have urmites now, sometime in the future, we're going.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
To have termites.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
That's one of the jokes that we always joke about.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Tell.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
One of the things that you are looking for is
the turmite tube. It's a little sand tube that comes
up from the ground, usually underneath the sighting, and we
want to keep the bushes and the grass away from
the side of the house that we can see those tubes.
Turmites don't like sunlight, so if you have an exposed
foundation that you're not going to see the termites, they're
(07:46):
not going to bother climbing up into your property.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That's good to know. And I mean I've been in
some houses that were just extensively damaged by termites, and
we have several different types of termites here too.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yes, yes, we do for most of the termite that
comes from underneath the ground is our biggest problem. But
we also will see the see the termite swarm, and
they'll land on a window sill and then climb into
the house and then you won't be able to visibly
see where they are. Who should get a termite treatment
(08:19):
and termite inspection every year?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, and let's point out let's take this opportunity to
point out so it used to be called to see
all one hundred. It's not known technically as that anymore.
But the termite letter is separate than the inspection that
you do. So you want an exterminator to come out
and write a clear letter on your house, either clear
or not you know whether it's clear of you know,
(08:42):
moisture issues and termite issues. Now certainly you'll you'll point
that out, but you also there's something that goes in
tandem with your inspection, which is the the termite and
moisture inspection. So I just wanted to point that out.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Well, I just wanted to say there actually looking for
wood destroying organisms, so that also goes along with mold, mildew,
and of pests, termites, wood boring insects. The powder post
beetle is what they're also looking for. So, yeah, you
have to have that. And since it's such a problem
(09:20):
here in the low Country, you have to have a specialists.
It can be controlled, but you have to have a
specialist to sign off on that letter. And that CL
one hundred letter that we speak about. What's the funny
thing about that is COL stands for Clemson letter number
one hundred, Clemson being our agricultural school. It's just the
(09:41):
name of the form CL one hundred.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, right then, and there's you know, so they look
for visible signs of termite damage, and then they also
check for moisture levels and I believe is it nineteen percent,
so that they figure if it's if it's at that
number or above, whether there's a problem currently or not,
(10:03):
there's going to be one. They just you know that,
they say, all right, if it's above is it nineteen percent.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm pretty sure it's twenty percent, and twenty to twenty
eight percent, you're going to start having growth. Twenty eight
percent it's just wood rot that's too wet. So we'll
go around and check it. And you know, here in
the low Country, most of the times we'll find crawl
spaces that are not treated around fifteen percent because the
(10:32):
crawl space is always cooler and that hot humid air
from outside enters the crawl space and it causes condensation
and the wood will the exposed wood will become wet.
What are the funny things is if you have insulation
underneath your house, it actually exacerbates the problem. It holds
in the moisture and it's like putting a wet sponge
(10:54):
underneath your house. It just keeps it right there and
it's hard for the house.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
To dry out.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, and you're right on the twenty percent, So I was,
you know, it's kind of like apples and apples. So
above nineteen you know, up to nineteen percent, you're okay.
At twenty percent, you've got a problem, and you don't
have a clear letter h And they just and they
assume that there's wood destroying microbes present if there's twenty
(11:20):
percent moisture or above.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
One of the ways that they we combat that is
with dehumidifiers sealing up the crawl space. And if we
do have fungal growth underneath the house, there is a
chrobium sprays and mists that they use to help clean the.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Wood and there's also you know a lot of times
you might even need some repairs to your substructure, your
subfloor and the floor joists and all of that. So
if there is a moisture issue in the house or
a termite issue, make sure that those areas are thoroughly
inspected because there might be a latent defect and underlying
(11:57):
problem there. But let's get to roofs. Roofs are very important,
even more so as every day passes, because insurance companies
more and more and more will send out a letter
or even you go to close and they're like, we're
not going to insure this house unless you replace the roof.
Even as a homeowner, you might have experienced this where
(12:19):
they'll go through the neighborhoods and your roof's fine, it's
not leaking, but you'll receive a letter from the insurance
company saying we're going to drop your coverage unless you
replace the roof. So taking a look at that roof
before you make your purchases certainly important. So you use
a drone, don't you.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yes, you know it's funny that the roof inspection has
really changed in the last few years with the insurance
company the insurance company being involved now says that fifteen
years is when they start. They don't want to ensure
a roof that's over fifteen years old. So in the
(12:58):
age of the roof, you know, they last about twenty years. Here,
we take a drone, we go over it. We're looking
at granules, looking at the drip edge, the way that
the shingles are connected to the house, the plumbing vents
on the roof, we're looking at that and all the
penetrations are. Roofs here in the low Country last about
twenty years, depending if you get a three tab or
(13:22):
an architectural shingle, they all last about twenty years. But
the problem is the insurance companies say after fifteen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
They want a new one on there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Most of claims come from water damage from roofs, and
once a little bit of water penetrates those shingles and
gets inside the attic, now the plywood sheathing on the
roof is damaged the insulation in the attic and once
you see the stain, we've got a big problem because
it's already hit the dry wall, and we're also going
(13:52):
to be looking at mildew and such. So the insurance
companies are really cracking down on the roofs. Another thing
to keep in mind is in the low country here
we only use one set of shingles. We are not
allowed to double or triple layers of shingles like they
do in northern areas.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Our roofs are designed to keep the wind in.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
The rain out. We're not going to have anything sitting
on our roof like snow for months at a time.
Think of it more as a tilted wall. We're using
it to keep the wind out, and we really have
to watch the strength and how the shingles are attached
so that they don't blow off. That's our biggest problem
(14:36):
really is high winds.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, and you'll see nail pops more often than you
would think, don't you.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We see them a lot. And what happens is the
attics get hot and they dry out, and it pushes
that nail back up through the shingles.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And then that can raise the shingle above it and
create an air pocket where water can blow up in
there in the wind.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And there you go, yeah, yes you do.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And keep in mind our addicts. Our addicts run about
one hundred and twenty degrees usually, and the roof itself
is very hot. A lot of times that you'll want
to wear a glove if you're walking up there in July, August, September,
the roofs are are pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Hot, brutally hot.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So you know, one more thing on the exterior of
the home, the siding. So what do you look for,
you know, with you know, on a brick home or
on a vinyl sided home versus you know, a hardy
plank side at home.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
The brick home is really easy.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
We're looking for the make sure that the bricks are
all intact in that their level the way they should be.
A lot of times are older homes here in Charleston,
the brick veneer will start to crack or move, and
it's not so much of a case of settlement like
there's a foundation repair, which.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
It could be.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Most of the time we've had the windows replaced, and
when they push the old windows.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Out, there's a little bit of play to the.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Wall, and what we'll see is the bricks will crack.
It's a brick veneer, so it's a one layer of
brick and people are saying, well, I have a brick
home myself. I didn't know it was one layer. Yeah,
we don't build full brick homes because of the weight
of the home on the soil here in the low country,
and typically our footers in the soil aren't all that great.
(16:30):
And we can see in some of the older homes
where the brick has kind of slightly moved, you'll get
the diagonal cracking, usually around the corners of the windows
and the foundation vents and doorways. These are not the
most attractive, but easily repaired.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, and let me ask you about that real quick,
because I see people getting confused all the time when
you use the term brick veneer. Now, there's also panels
with very thin layer brick on them, sometimes rock or
whatever decorative siding you decide to use, But it's not
(17:09):
bricks that are mortared together. It comes in a panel
and those are also known as a brick veneer wall.
So how do you technically distinguish among the two. When
you see brick veneer.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Basically at the windows and doors, you'll be able to
see that it's a full thickness brick. But we only
run one layer on the exterior of the home. We
don't run two layers of brick like you would in
a traditional brick home, and so you can see that
it's one layer of brick. It's a brick home, but
(17:43):
really it's a wood built home with brick on the outside.
If we go downtown to some of the historic homes,
you will see a full brick wall, and you know,
the mortar over time just doesn't hold up the way
it should like in a modern home, so we don't
see him very often. Charleston is pretty much a wooden
(18:06):
structure town with a brick veneer on top of it
to make it look more fancy.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
And of course it's a little more you know, has
more strength to it, offers some more protection, you know,
even if it's brick veneer. Now we get to and
I would say that's probably the best choice if you're
looking for strength and longevity, although hardy plank can last
a long time. What are specific concerns once you start
(18:32):
getting into these man made materials vinyl siding or even
these panels that I'm talking about with the fake brick
or rock on them. What kind of issues do you see?
What those type sided with the.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Vinyl sighting, there really isn't a lot to worry about.
Sometimes the wind may catch it and you have some
corners that pop a little bit and you just push
them back on. But the real problem with vinyl sighting
is we're in a lot of new homes that are
coming in dark colors or even a full color like red,
(19:07):
and we're finding that they fade within the first five years.
So you want to stay with your light pastels who
are off whites, because with our sun the darker colors
just fade too quickly. Hardiplank is the same way when
you buy the cement based fiber sighting on for your home,
you want to stay with a lighter color. The paint
(19:29):
fades quickly with it the cement base. I keep saying
hardy plank. But the cement based fiber sighting, we don't
have a lot of problems with it at all if
it was installed correctly by the builders. It's just a
very very good product.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
The vinyl sighting.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
One of the things that we're seeing now is if
we have these windows with the UV protections on them,
which is code for all the windows, and what happens
is sometimes you'll get a reflection from your neighbor's window
at a certain time of the morning and it will
actually melt. Vinyl sighting and you'll have this waviness to
the sighting and people will ask why is there an
(20:11):
arch on the side of the home. Well, at nine
o'clock in the morning, the sun hits your neighbor's house,
reflects off the window, and over the months and years
it will create an arc on your house. And you know,
that isn't a hard thing to replace, But if you
have an older home, replacing the sighting and getting everything
to match up properly is a difficult part.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Sure, some people will take the sighting from that's already
been on the house from the side or the back,
replace the damage and then put the new sighting down
low where nobody will see it. But it can be frustrating.
Party plank is really the product that we would like
to see here in the low Country, the cement based sighting.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So before we run out of time here, let's let's
move to the interior of the home. What do you
look at in the interior.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
One of the main things when we get into the interior,
of course, the dry wall, the levelness of the floors,
the doors and windows. Windows are a big item. Pressure washers.
We use a lot of pressure washers on the homes
because our homes get so dirty from the pollen in
the springtime that will have broken seals. If you have
(21:23):
a double pain window, really shouldn't be pressure washing it,
and we will find where you'll have cloudy or condensation
in between the two panes. That's going to run you
about one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars of pain.
So one window could cost you four hundred dollars. That's
a little bit more than the price of just replacing
(21:44):
the whole window itself. A lot of times the seal
is broken, you don't actually even notice it. It's just
looks dirty. And there's a test that you can do
with ice cubes to check to see if there's condensation
inside the window and if it actually is broken. The
appliances are a big thing. A lot of times we
(22:05):
find that there isn't the safety features that we're supposed
to be installed. With the dishwasher and with the stove,
they weren't installed. And these safety features have been around
for over twenty five years now, and we'll find that
people just aren't It's not a big deal. My kids
don't climb on the stove. Why would I install an
anti tip device? These things are needed, and there's been
(22:28):
quite a lot of lawsuits about this, so we want
to make sure that those are installed properly and nobody
gets injured. One of our big things is air thence
and HVAC, checking how the HVAC is actually working, not
just the machine itself, but the air ducts and where
the registers are placed, the return the filters. There's a
(22:51):
lot more to HVAC in the South than what we
work with in the North. In the North, you turn
the heat on, the heat comes on, you shut the vents.
If you're not in the room really easy, you're not home,
turned the heat off. Here in the low Country, it's
all about managing the humidity and the ventilation in each room,
(23:12):
keeping vents open, using cheap filters, keeping your machine clean.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
We use our vents.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
We use our HVAC system from April until October and
then from late November until the beginning of March. So
it isn't like we get a chance to turn it
off and let it rest for a while. There's a
lot going on with the HVAC and knowing where all
the events are, how they're aimed. Are they blowing on
(23:38):
a wall, are they blowing on the window and not
into the room. These things all matter, and the best
way to check for this stuff is with the infrared
cameras see where the air is actually moving. You can
tell by the temperature of the area around the air
vent if the event is actually working properly.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sure you also look at other things like you know,
the obvious hole in the wall, warren carpeting and point
out things like that. And I'll point out that take
this approach when you're negotiating a lot of people think,
all right, I'm going to take this inspection report and
I'm going to use it for negotiating. And I just
had this conversation with somebody the other day. It was
(24:19):
a friend of mine in a different state, and They're like,
my brother and I we're confident enough, we're just going
to do this inspection myself. And I'm like, get a
home inspector, and then you have an inspection report that
you can use for negotiation. So do yourself a favor
and spend the money and give yourself that upper hand
in the negotiation because you can say this is what
(24:40):
you found all you want, but it certainly gives it
more credibility and gravitas when you have a professional inspection report.
But I'll point this out. You should not negotiate things
that are visible. Take those into account when you're making
your initial offer. So I will say all the time,
(25:02):
if somebody comes back and says, well, they're staining in
the carpet and there's this and that, I'm like, you
should have noticed that when you made that. You know,
you want to find the things that you didn't know
were wrong with it, the things that you already knew
were wrong with it, and we're very visible. Visible does
not belong in this negotiation. That belonged in your initial
offer price. So don't come back to the well on
(25:24):
those things. You're going to muddy up your negotiation and
you're going to put yourself at a disadvantage on getting
the things that are of a major concern addressed. So
just a pointer there that there's a difference between visible
defects and latent defects. And you know, latent means you
(25:44):
can't see it, and that's what you want to uncover
in a home inspection. And were quickly running out of
time here. I just wanted to point out Steve that
you know a lot of people think that well, the
home inspector missed this. You know there was something structurally
wrong with the house or whatever not that you wouldn't
notice that and put it into your inspection report. But
(26:07):
you're looking on system checks and you know that the
roof's tite, that the HVAC works and all this. You're
not necessarily doing a full blown structural inspection, right.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Yes, we're not engineers, And what I always like to
say is the engineer would be Think of the home
inspector as your family physician. The engineer is your cardiologist
or your HVAC guy as your pulmonologist. They will come
in and tear that system apart and tell you everything
you need to know. Home inspector is more like a
(26:39):
general practitioner. We can tell when you have a problem
with a certain item, but let's get the experts involved.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Is where we're going to guide you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Sure, it's a starting point and also a point of negotiation.
Like I said with that inspection report, So Steve, I
enjoyed talking to you, and we could go on for
probably hours. Here were out of time. So if anybody
needs a home inspection and they want to use solid
ground home inspections, how do they reach you?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Steve, I think you can get hold of my wife, Erica,
who does all the scheduling eight four three eight seven
three eight eight nine seven.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And then you have a website.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Solid Ground Inspections dot com.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Solid Ground Inspections dot com. Stephen Kumart selling Ground Inspections
co owner along with his wife Erica. Thanks for taking
your time and explaining all these things today, and I'll
have you back because there's plenty more to discuss in
this process. But that's a good start. Thanks Steve, Oh,
thank you. I'm going to have Stephen back here sometime
in the near future because there's so much more to
(27:39):
discuss about home inspections. But I think that was a
good primer on why they're necessary and what is looked
for in a home inspection. That does it for today's
You're Home three sixty. Thanks for listening. If you miss
part of the show and you want to go back
and listen to it, or you want to listen to
the show again, or you want to listen to past episodes,
(28:00):
you can find them all online. Go to ninety four
to three WSC dot com, look under podcasts, and then
You're Home three sixty and you'll see all past episodes there,
or you can search for it on your iHeartRadio app
that you can download for free. I'm Michael Blaze. Enjoy
the rest of your weekend. I'll talk to you again
Monday morning.
Well, hello, I'm Michael Blaze. Welcome to Your Home three sixty,
the show where we talk about everything that has to
do with your home.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm a licensed South Carolina realtor. I have been for
about twenty years, so we talk a lot about real estate.
We talk about what it takes to buy and sell
your home. We talk about what it takes to care
for your home. We talk about maintenance issues. We talk
about everything from landscaping to even entertainment in your home.
(00:27):
That's what Your Home three sixty is all about. That's
why we call it Your Home three sixty. Get it
all the way around your home, everything that has to
do with it. For the last couple of months, I
keep saying that I'm going to do an episode on
Home Inspections. Well that time has come. Today We're going
to dedicate the whole show to Home Inspections or why
you should get one, because first of all, it's a
(00:48):
negotiating tool for you. Second of all, you want to
know what you're buying right now. I'm not really going
to get into how to structure this in your contract
because I've done that on other episodes, but you're going
to want an adequate due diligence period to do whatever
you need to do to figure out that this property
(01:09):
is worth it for you, that it'll work for you,
that it is what you think that it is. So
we're going to assume that you're in your due diligence
period and you're going to take my advice and you're
going to get a home inspection. A lot of people
you wouldn't believe are like, I can do it myself.
Don't do it yourself, get a professional to do it.
There's several different reasons that is named. If you ow them,
(01:31):
it's a good negotiating tool. They're used to looking at
homes all day long, every day, are you. If not,
you might miss some things that a home inspector will catch.
Plus you'll get a nice report with pictures and descriptions
that you can use in your negotiation, and it will
give you piece of mind, peace of mind, or piece
(01:53):
of you know what. I think peace of mind would
be the better choice. Now on the line with me,
Stephen Humard, Solid Ground Home Inspections. Steve's a certified home
inspector and the owner along with his wife, Erica, of
Solid Ground Home Inspections. Thanks for joining us today. Steve.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, absolutely so. Now you're in the due diligence process.
You're to contract. The clock is ticking and your phone rings, Steve,
we need your help. We need a home inspection. You
come on out to the house. Explain to our listeners
what it is that you inspect in this process.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, when we get to the house, we're going to
start with the exterior first. We're going to take a
look on the exterior. We're looking at citing landscaping, which
is a lot more important than people think, especially here
in the Low Country. We're going to look at the
general overall property itself, look for anything that could pose
(02:50):
a problem in the future.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, let me stop you right there. And why is
it that landscaping is more important than people think.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Landscaping is used in our area mainly to pull moisture
away from the home. Being a recovering norther or myself,
I know that a lot of us are afraid of
trees too close to the house. Here in the Low Country,
we don't have these big tap roots on our trees.
They don't go underneath the house and move the foundation
(03:18):
as much as they did when I was growing up
up North, we would never have a home with a
tree very close. Here in the low country, we just
do not see the tree roots underneath the house like
we do in other places. So we're going to look for.
Is the landscaping proper where it's not rubbing up against
the house. Is it pulling moisture away from the property,
(03:42):
things like that. Do we have the gutters and the
down spouts far enough away from the foundation so that
the moisture doesn't go underneath the house. Also, trees rubbing
the house. Palm trees are a big thing. We plant
those way too close to our property and the fronds
will rub the house and you'll see it. You'll see
it on a hardy plank siding or on shingles that
(04:04):
the poems will just rub the granulars right off the shingles.
So that's one of the things that we're looking for.
There's a lot of plants here in the South that
are dangerous to dogs and children. The sago palm is
one of them. You have little puppies, they chew on
that plant and they can become poison. So we only
(04:26):
ender plants things like that. We want to point out.
You know, if you have children, these are not the
best plants they have in the backyard.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And you know, and I'll point out too, if there's
no gutters on the home, you want to see some
vegetation close to the home, not too close, but close
to the home to kind of buffer that water. Is
it hits the ground, so it's not eroding the ground
around the property. Right.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yes, In the old building codes, before we started using
the international codes, it was it was written into the
code that we would plant the azaleahs two feet from
the drip edge of the house and the azaleas would
diffuse all the moisture. So when you're looking at some
of these older homes from the sixties and fifties, you'll
(05:07):
notice that there's bushes all the way around that was
planted on purpose to keep the water from going into
the crawl space.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, now, what else is it that you expect on
the exterior of the home. Do you look at the
sidewalks and the driveway and all of that.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yes, we do. And one of the funny things is
we don't see a lot of driveways being pulled up
because of frost or tree roots. We see a lot
of driveways that are actually sunken because of soil erosion underneath.
There's so much stand in our environment here in Charleston
that it could get washed out and you'll see hollow
(05:45):
areas where you'll have a nice trip hazard on a
sidewalk or on a driveway itself. Swimming pools are really
known for this. When you have a cement deck in
the backyard around your in ground pool, a hollow spot.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I've got one of those in my driveway and not
only does it, you know, create a tripping hazard, it
eventually will bust up the driveway into little pieces and
it's uncomfortable to drive on and it's a tripping hazard
and it's an eyesore.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, and it's very common. Most people have them.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Now, what else on the exterior? I imagine the siding
and the roof.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Windows are a big thing. Window flashing A lot of
times we will not have the best window flashing a
lot of our homes because of our climate. We don't
replace the windows like we would in a northern environment.
A lot of homes will still have wooden framed windows.
If you buy a home downtown, they have to. They
(06:44):
have to have the old fashioned windows to stay with
the historic environment. Those windows get a lot of condensation
if you have the air conditioner on the house, and
with our hot and humid environment, you build up the
condensation on the exterior of the home.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
They brought pretty easily. There needs to be a lot.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Of maintenance with the wind windows, but we're going to
look for that. Termites. Urmites are a big thing and
every home. The rule of thumb is if you don't
have urmites now, sometime in the future, we're going.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
To have termites.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
That's one of the jokes that we always joke about.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Tell.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
One of the things that you are looking for is
the turmite tube. It's a little sand tube that comes
up from the ground, usually underneath the sighting, and we
want to keep the bushes and the grass away from
the side of the house that we can see those tubes.
Turmites don't like sunlight, so if you have an exposed
foundation that you're not going to see the termites, they're
(07:46):
not going to bother climbing up into your property.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That's good to know. And I mean I've been in
some houses that were just extensively damaged by termites, and
we have several different types of termites here too.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yes, yes, we do for most of the termite that
comes from underneath the ground is our biggest problem. But
we also will see the see the termite swarm, and
they'll land on a window sill and then climb into
the house and then you won't be able to visibly
see where they are. Who should get a termite treatment
(08:19):
and termite inspection every year?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, and let's point out let's take this opportunity to
point out so it used to be called to see
all one hundred. It's not known technically as that anymore.
But the termite letter is separate than the inspection that
you do. So you want an exterminator to come out
and write a clear letter on your house, either clear
or not you know whether it's clear of you know,
(08:42):
moisture issues and termite issues. Now certainly you'll you'll point
that out, but you also there's something that goes in
tandem with your inspection, which is the the termite and
moisture inspection. So I just wanted to point that out.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Well, I just wanted to say there actually looking for
wood destroying organisms, so that also goes along with mold, mildew,
and of pests, termites, wood boring insects. The powder post
beetle is what they're also looking for. So, yeah, you
have to have that. And since it's such a problem
(09:20):
here in the low Country, you have to have a specialists.
It can be controlled, but you have to have a
specialist to sign off on that letter. And that CL
one hundred letter that we speak about. What's the funny
thing about that is COL stands for Clemson letter number
one hundred, Clemson being our agricultural school. It's just the
(09:41):
name of the form CL one hundred.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, right then, and there's you know, so they look
for visible signs of termite damage, and then they also
check for moisture levels and I believe is it nineteen percent,
so that they figure if it's if it's at that
number or above, whether there's a problem currently or not,
(10:03):
there's going to be one. They just you know that,
they say, all right, if it's above is it nineteen percent.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm pretty sure it's twenty percent, and twenty to twenty
eight percent, you're going to start having growth. Twenty eight
percent it's just wood rot that's too wet. So we'll
go around and check it. And you know, here in
the low Country, most of the times we'll find crawl
spaces that are not treated around fifteen percent because the
(10:32):
crawl space is always cooler and that hot humid air
from outside enters the crawl space and it causes condensation
and the wood will the exposed wood will become wet.
What are the funny things is if you have insulation
underneath your house, it actually exacerbates the problem. It holds
in the moisture and it's like putting a wet sponge
(10:54):
underneath your house. It just keeps it right there and
it's hard for the house.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
To dry out.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, and you're right on the twenty percent, So I was,
you know, it's kind of like apples and apples. So
above nineteen you know, up to nineteen percent, you're okay.
At twenty percent, you've got a problem, and you don't
have a clear letter h And they just and they
assume that there's wood destroying microbes present if there's twenty
(11:20):
percent moisture or above.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
One of the ways that they we combat that is
with dehumidifiers sealing up the crawl space. And if we
do have fungal growth underneath the house, there is a
chrobium sprays and mists that they use to help clean the.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Wood and there's also you know a lot of times
you might even need some repairs to your substructure, your
subfloor and the floor joists and all of that. So
if there is a moisture issue in the house or
a termite issue, make sure that those areas are thoroughly
inspected because there might be a latent defect and underlying
(11:57):
problem there. But let's get to roofs. Roofs are very important,
even more so as every day passes, because insurance companies
more and more and more will send out a letter
or even you go to close and they're like, we're
not going to insure this house unless you replace the roof.
Even as a homeowner, you might have experienced this where
(12:19):
they'll go through the neighborhoods and your roof's fine, it's
not leaking, but you'll receive a letter from the insurance
company saying we're going to drop your coverage unless you
replace the roof. So taking a look at that roof
before you make your purchases certainly important. So you use
a drone, don't you.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yes, you know it's funny that the roof inspection has
really changed in the last few years with the insurance
company the insurance company being involved now says that fifteen
years is when they start. They don't want to ensure
a roof that's over fifteen years old. So in the
(12:58):
age of the roof, you know, they last about twenty years. Here,
we take a drone, we go over it. We're looking
at granules, looking at the drip edge, the way that
the shingles are connected to the house, the plumbing vents
on the roof, we're looking at that and all the
penetrations are. Roofs here in the low Country last about
twenty years, depending if you get a three tab or
(13:22):
an architectural shingle, they all last about twenty years. But
the problem is the insurance companies say after fifteen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
They want a new one on there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Most of claims come from water damage from roofs, and
once a little bit of water penetrates those shingles and
gets inside the attic, now the plywood sheathing on the
roof is damaged the insulation in the attic and once
you see the stain, we've got a big problem because
it's already hit the dry wall, and we're also going
(13:52):
to be looking at mildew and such. So the insurance
companies are really cracking down on the roofs. Another thing
to keep in mind is in the low country here
we only use one set of shingles. We are not
allowed to double or triple layers of shingles like they
do in northern areas.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Our roofs are designed to keep the wind in.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
The rain out. We're not going to have anything sitting
on our roof like snow for months at a time.
Think of it more as a tilted wall. We're using
it to keep the wind out, and we really have
to watch the strength and how the shingles are attached
so that they don't blow off. That's our biggest problem
(14:36):
really is high winds.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, and you'll see nail pops more often than you
would think, don't you.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We see them a lot. And what happens is the
attics get hot and they dry out, and it pushes
that nail back up through the shingles.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And then that can raise the shingle above it and
create an air pocket where water can blow up in
there in the wind.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And there you go, yeah, yes you do.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And keep in mind our addicts. Our addicts run about
one hundred and twenty degrees usually, and the roof itself
is very hot. A lot of times that you'll want
to wear a glove if you're walking up there in July, August, September,
the roofs are are pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Hot, brutally hot.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So you know, one more thing on the exterior of
the home, the siding. So what do you look for,
you know, with you know, on a brick home or
on a vinyl sided home versus you know, a hardy
plank side at home.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
The brick home is really easy.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
We're looking for the make sure that the bricks are
all intact in that their level the way they should be.
A lot of times are older homes here in Charleston,
the brick veneer will start to crack or move, and
it's not so much of a case of settlement like
there's a foundation repair, which.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
It could be.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Most of the time we've had the windows replaced, and
when they push the old windows.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Out, there's a little bit of play to the.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Wall, and what we'll see is the bricks will crack.
It's a brick veneer, so it's a one layer of
brick and people are saying, well, I have a brick
home myself. I didn't know it was one layer. Yeah,
we don't build full brick homes because of the weight
of the home on the soil here in the low country,
and typically our footers in the soil aren't all that great.
(16:30):
And we can see in some of the older homes
where the brick has kind of slightly moved, you'll get
the diagonal cracking, usually around the corners of the windows
and the foundation vents and doorways. These are not the
most attractive, but easily repaired.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, and let me ask you about that real quick,
because I see people getting confused all the time when
you use the term brick veneer. Now, there's also panels
with very thin layer brick on them, sometimes rock or
whatever decorative siding you decide to use, But it's not
(17:09):
bricks that are mortared together. It comes in a panel
and those are also known as a brick veneer wall.
So how do you technically distinguish among the two. When
you see brick veneer.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Basically at the windows and doors, you'll be able to
see that it's a full thickness brick. But we only
run one layer on the exterior of the home. We
don't run two layers of brick like you would in
a traditional brick home, and so you can see that
it's one layer of brick. It's a brick home, but
(17:43):
really it's a wood built home with brick on the outside.
If we go downtown to some of the historic homes,
you will see a full brick wall, and you know,
the mortar over time just doesn't hold up the way
it should like in a modern home, so we don't
see him very often. Charleston is pretty much a wooden
(18:06):
structure town with a brick veneer on top of it
to make it look more fancy.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
And of course it's a little more you know, has
more strength to it, offers some more protection, you know,
even if it's brick veneer. Now we get to and
I would say that's probably the best choice if you're
looking for strength and longevity, although hardy plank can last
a long time. What are specific concerns once you start
(18:32):
getting into these man made materials vinyl siding or even
these panels that I'm talking about with the fake brick
or rock on them. What kind of issues do you see?
What those type sided with the.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Vinyl sighting, there really isn't a lot to worry about.
Sometimes the wind may catch it and you have some
corners that pop a little bit and you just push
them back on. But the real problem with vinyl sighting
is we're in a lot of new homes that are
coming in dark colors or even a full color like red,
(19:07):
and we're finding that they fade within the first five years.
So you want to stay with your light pastels who
are off whites, because with our sun the darker colors
just fade too quickly. Hardiplank is the same way when
you buy the cement based fiber sighting on for your home,
you want to stay with a lighter color. The paint
(19:29):
fades quickly with it the cement base. I keep saying
hardy plank. But the cement based fiber sighting, we don't
have a lot of problems with it at all if
it was installed correctly by the builders. It's just a
very very good product.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
The vinyl sighting.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
One of the things that we're seeing now is if
we have these windows with the UV protections on them,
which is code for all the windows, and what happens
is sometimes you'll get a reflection from your neighbor's window
at a certain time of the morning and it will
actually melt. Vinyl sighting and you'll have this waviness to
the sighting and people will ask why is there an
(20:11):
arch on the side of the home. Well, at nine
o'clock in the morning, the sun hits your neighbor's house,
reflects off the window, and over the months and years
it will create an arc on your house. And you know,
that isn't a hard thing to replace, But if you
have an older home, replacing the sighting and getting everything
to match up properly is a difficult part.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Sure, some people will take the sighting from that's already
been on the house from the side or the back,
replace the damage and then put the new sighting down
low where nobody will see it. But it can be frustrating.
Party plank is really the product that we would like
to see here in the low Country, the cement based sighting.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So before we run out of time here, let's let's
move to the interior of the home. What do you
look at in the interior.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
One of the main things when we get into the interior,
of course, the dry wall, the levelness of the floors,
the doors and windows. Windows are a big item. Pressure washers.
We use a lot of pressure washers on the homes
because our homes get so dirty from the pollen in
the springtime that will have broken seals. If you have
(21:23):
a double pain window, really shouldn't be pressure washing it,
and we will find where you'll have cloudy or condensation
in between the two panes. That's going to run you
about one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars of pain.
So one window could cost you four hundred dollars. That's
a little bit more than the price of just replacing
(21:44):
the whole window itself. A lot of times the seal
is broken, you don't actually even notice it. It's just
looks dirty. And there's a test that you can do
with ice cubes to check to see if there's condensation
inside the window and if it actually is broken. The
appliances are a big thing. A lot of times we
(22:05):
find that there isn't the safety features that we're supposed
to be installed. With the dishwasher and with the stove,
they weren't installed. And these safety features have been around
for over twenty five years now, and we'll find that
people just aren't It's not a big deal. My kids
don't climb on the stove. Why would I install an
anti tip device? These things are needed, and there's been
(22:28):
quite a lot of lawsuits about this, so we want
to make sure that those are installed properly and nobody
gets injured. One of our big things is air thence
and HVAC, checking how the HVAC is actually working, not
just the machine itself, but the air ducts and where
the registers are placed, the return the filters. There's a
(22:51):
lot more to HVAC in the South than what we
work with in the North. In the North, you turn
the heat on, the heat comes on, you shut the vents.
If you're not in the room really easy, you're not home,
turned the heat off. Here in the low Country, it's
all about managing the humidity and the ventilation in each room,
(23:12):
keeping vents open, using cheap filters, keeping your machine clean.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
We use our vents.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
We use our HVAC system from April until October and
then from late November until the beginning of March. So
it isn't like we get a chance to turn it
off and let it rest for a while. There's a
lot going on with the HVAC and knowing where all
the events are, how they're aimed. Are they blowing on
(23:38):
a wall, are they blowing on the window and not
into the room. These things all matter, and the best
way to check for this stuff is with the infrared
cameras see where the air is actually moving. You can
tell by the temperature of the area around the air
vent if the event is actually working properly.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sure you also look at other things like you know,
the obvious hole in the wall, warren carpeting and point
out things like that. And I'll point out that take
this approach when you're negotiating a lot of people think,
all right, I'm going to take this inspection report and
I'm going to use it for negotiating. And I just
had this conversation with somebody the other day. It was
(24:19):
a friend of mine in a different state, and They're like,
my brother and I we're confident enough, we're just going
to do this inspection myself. And I'm like, get a
home inspector, and then you have an inspection report that
you can use for negotiation. So do yourself a favor
and spend the money and give yourself that upper hand
in the negotiation because you can say this is what
(24:40):
you found all you want, but it certainly gives it
more credibility and gravitas when you have a professional inspection report.
But I'll point this out. You should not negotiate things
that are visible. Take those into account when you're making
your initial offer. So I will say all the time,
(25:02):
if somebody comes back and says, well, they're staining in
the carpet and there's this and that, I'm like, you
should have noticed that when you made that. You know,
you want to find the things that you didn't know
were wrong with it, the things that you already knew
were wrong with it, and we're very visible. Visible does
not belong in this negotiation. That belonged in your initial
offer price. So don't come back to the well on
(25:24):
those things. You're going to muddy up your negotiation and
you're going to put yourself at a disadvantage on getting
the things that are of a major concern addressed. So
just a pointer there that there's a difference between visible
defects and latent defects. And you know, latent means you
(25:44):
can't see it, and that's what you want to uncover
in a home inspection. And were quickly running out of
time here. I just wanted to point out Steve that
you know a lot of people think that well, the
home inspector missed this. You know there was something structurally
wrong with the house or whatever not that you wouldn't
notice that and put it into your inspection report. But
(26:07):
you're looking on system checks and you know that the
roof's tite, that the HVAC works and all this. You're
not necessarily doing a full blown structural inspection, right.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Yes, we're not engineers, And what I always like to
say is the engineer would be Think of the home
inspector as your family physician. The engineer is your cardiologist
or your HVAC guy as your pulmonologist. They will come
in and tear that system apart and tell you everything
you need to know. Home inspector is more like a
(26:39):
general practitioner. We can tell when you have a problem
with a certain item, but let's get the experts involved.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Is where we're going to guide you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Sure, it's a starting point and also a point of negotiation.
Like I said with that inspection report, So Steve, I
enjoyed talking to you, and we could go on for
probably hours. Here were out of time. So if anybody
needs a home inspection and they want to use solid
ground home inspections, how do they reach you?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Steve, I think you can get hold of my wife, Erica,
who does all the scheduling eight four three eight seven
three eight eight nine seven.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And then you have a website.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Solid Ground Inspections dot com.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Solid Ground Inspections dot com. Stephen Kumart selling Ground Inspections
co owner along with his wife Erica. Thanks for taking
your time and explaining all these things today, and I'll
have you back because there's plenty more to discuss in
this process. But that's a good start. Thanks Steve, Oh,
thank you. I'm going to have Stephen back here sometime
in the near future because there's so much more to
(27:39):
discuss about home inspections. But I think that was a
good primer on why they're necessary and what is looked
for in a home inspection. That does it for today's
You're Home three sixty. Thanks for listening. If you miss
part of the show and you want to go back
and listen to it, or you want to listen to
the show again, or you want to listen to past episodes,
(28:00):
you can find them all online. Go to ninety four
to three WSC dot com, look under podcasts, and then
You're Home three sixty and you'll see all past episodes there,
or you can search for it on your iHeartRadio app
that you can download for free. I'm Michael Blaze. Enjoy
the rest of your weekend. I'll talk to you again
Monday morning.
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